DRIVER CARJACKED AFTER HE’S PULLED OVER BY MAN DRESSED LIKE POLICE OFFICER

A motorist was carjacked Tuesday after being pulled over on northbound Interstate 805 by a man impersonating a police officer, the California Highway Patrol said.

The victim, a 28-year-old Tijuana resident, was driving west on state Route 905, east of I-805, in a black Jeep Patriot shortly after 1 p.m. when a white Crown Victoria came up behind him with red and blue flashing lights, CHP Officer Jake Sanchez said.

The Jeep driver stopped on the right freeway shoulder south of Palm Avenue. A Latino man believed to be in his 20s got out of the passenger side of the Crown Victoria and approached the Jeep. He was wearing a black jacket with the word “police” across the front and had what appeared to be a holstered handgun on his right hip, Sanchez said.

The man was asked to get out of the Jeep. When he did, the carjacker got in the vehicle and drove off, followed by another person driving the Crown Victoria.

The victim was unable to describe the person who drove off in the Crown Victoria.

Anyone who was a witness or who has information is asked to call CHP investigator K. Jackman at (619) 220-5492.

Debbi Baker & ana ceballos • U-T

Pot plants worth $7 million found, three men arrested

rainbow

Marijuana plants with a potential street value of $7 million were seized at several greenhouses Tuesday in Rainbow, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Three men were arrested as they were leaving the area before a search warrant was served about 2 p.m., sheriff’s Sgt. Patrick Yates said. Their names were not released because the investigation is ongoing, he said.

The greenhouses are on Rainbow Valley Boulevard near Fifth Street, in a central area of Rainbow. They are surrounded by other commercial greenhouses and plant nurseries, Yates said.

The investigation was conducted by the sheriff’s Fallbrook station Crime Suppression Team. The regional Narcotics Task Force assisted with the search and seizure of the marijuana plants.

A total of 3,379 marijuana plants, a majority of them full-grown, were seized, the sergeant said.

“This was a big one,” Yates said of the seizure.

The greenhouses were “fairly secure” and there was no way to see inside them from the outside, he said.

The suspects arrested had been observed tending to the grow, Yates said. Other arrests are possible, he said.

Susan Shroder • U-T

SUV driver killed in crash on freeway was from S.D.

San Diego

A 38-year-old man who died over the weekend after he crashed his SUV while transitioning from one freeway to another in City Heights was identified Tuesday.

Cesar R. Alfaro, of San Diego, lost control of the 2003 Jeep Liberty while driving from northbound Interstate 15 to northbound Interstate 805 about 11:10 p.m. Friday, the Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Alfaro was not wearing a seat belt. He was thrown from the Jeep, which rolled several times, and died at the scene, authorities said.